Torn Apart

by Susan Aihoshi

  We girls vowed to stay in touch. That reminded me of Sachi — I wondered when I’d see her again. Then I wondered if I would ever see Maggie again or Ellen or anyone in Vancouver. I started to feel terrible. But when it finally came time to say goodbye, Maggie had another great idea. We pretended it was one of our regular Guide meetings! It was only the Three Musketeers — Maggie, Ellen and me — but we recited the Guide promise and law together, just like always:

  I promise, on my honour, to do my best:

  To do my duty to God and the King,

  To help other people at all times,

  To obey the Guide Law.

  A Guide’s honour is to be trusted.

  A Guide is loyal.

  A Guide is useful and helps others.

  A Guide is friend to all and a sister to every Guide.

  A Guide is courteous.

  A Guide is kind to animals and enjoys the beauty

  in nature.

  A Guide obeys orders.

  A Guide smiles and sings even under difficulty.

  A Guide is thrifty.

  A Guide is pure in thought, word and deed.

  It was hard saying the words, but somehow it worked. I was sure I’d burst into tears when I hugged Maggie and Ellen goodbye. But they didn’t cry, so I didn’t either. I resolved I would do my best — even under difficulty, just like the Guide pledge says. I even feel a little bit better after writing it down now.

  I’m making sure my camera is well hidden in my luggage. Luckily it’s so small. I also carefully packed the album Geechan gave me with all my school and family photos. I took it out to look at one last time but Geechan’s picture is at the front and it made me so sad again to see his face. There are photos of Tad and Mike and Rags in the album too, so I wrapped it up straight away. I’m remembering how brave Maggie and Ellen were when we said goodbye, so I won’t cry now, not on the eve of our journey.

  Wednesday, October 21

  I’m writing on the train. We left Vancouver late this morning. Part of me was excited about my first train ride, but the other part was scared to be leaving. Mr. Young picked us up at the newspaper office and drove us to the station. It was really kind because we couldn’t have managed all our bags without his help. My sisters each have two big suitcases plus several boxes. I have two small ones, which certainly feel as heavy as the bigger ones look!

  My excitement disappeared when I saw so many sad looking families huddled with their belongings on the platform. They were mostly women and children, with a few elderly men who reminded me of Geechan again. I was glad he didn’t have to go through this.

  We waited forever before Kay and Emma’s registration numbers were called. I don’t have a card, so there was more confusion before the officials finally found my name listed with Mama and Papa’s numbers. I don’t know why they couldn’t just use our names — we’re people, not numbers!

  The train finally arrived and we struggled getting our things on the baggage car. Then it was hard finding a place to sit together. An older lady moved so the three of us could share a bench and Kay said “Arigatō gozaimasu” to her. When we started moving, I was happy to be under way, but now I’m not sure. These hard wooden seats are so uncomfortable and there’s nowhere we can even take a nap. I feel bad for the older people. I’m worried about Papa. And I miss Mama and Harry!

  Later

  Not much to see now — except trees and more trees. We still have a long way to go and it’s getting dark. At least Emma packed a bentō with some onigiri, cold vegetables and a couple of apples, along with a thermos of green tea. I’ll put this diary away now and catch up later.

  Thursday, October 22

  Early morning

  Still on the train. I’ve seen thousands of trees and quite a few mountains. The train ran right alongside a river a few times. We also crossed a couple of bridges and went into tunnels that passed right through mountains. I didn’t like the total darkness! Someone said we should arrive in Slocan after noon.

  Much later

  The end of a very long day. We left Vancouver more than twenty-four hours ago. I can hardly keep my eyes open — we didn’t sleep last night. When our train ride ended at Slocan City, we were brought here to New Denver in the back of a truck. Haven’t seen much and it’s dark now.

  My sisters and I are in a rough wooden bunkhouse that reminds me of Guide Camp except it’s a lot colder. There are beds for several people but we’re the only ones here. There’s no electricity so I’m using a flashlight Emma packed, so I can see while I write — she certainly knows what it means to be prepared!

  I’m sleeping in my clothes tonight. I’m too tired to change and I don’t think wearing pyjamas is such a good idea. I’ll write more tomorrow.

  Friday, October 23

  Woke up wondering where I was. Then I remembered and began to worry about Papa, Mama and Harry. But I decided I have to be brave like Maggie and Ellen.

  Emma just called me. We’re going to the mess hall to get breakfast and see New Denver in daylight. I’ll write more later.

  Much later

  When we left the bunkhouse this morning, I couldn’t believe my eyes. The scenery here is amazing! New Denver is right beside a big lake with huge mountains all around. Of course we have mountains in Vancouver, but here it feels like you can reach out and touch them. The one right across the lake even has a glacier!

  But I should describe our arrival here. After we got to Slocan City yesterday afternoon, everyone tried to find their belongings in the heaps of luggage stacked on the platform. Younger children were crying. I thought of poor Harry and wondered how he is. I’m sure everyone was hungry, tired and worried about where they were going, like I was! Kay and Emma finally found our bags, then eventually we were told to get into the back of an old pickup truck that would take us to New Denver.

  Other people travelled with us — a family with a mother, three girls younger than me and an older lady who must have been the baachan. I remembered my Guide pledge and helped the girls onto the truck, while Kay and Emma did the same for the mother and grandmother. The hakujin driver said the old lady could sit in the cab, but she refused to be separated from her family. In the end, he put an older Japanese man on his own in the front and we finally drove off.

  I felt sorry for Kay. When we left Vancouver, she wore her smartest outfit including her suede shoes. I bet she never dreamed she’d be riding in the back of a truck! It was mild back home, but there was snow in Slocan and at least a foot of it here. Kay’s pretty shoes are ruined. It took ages to reach the village along a narrow winding road. We had to check in at the RCMP guardhouse before we finally stopped at the Security Commission building.

  That’s when we learned we must stay in the communal bunkhouse because our entire family isn’t here yet. The Yamasakis — the people who shared our ride — were given a cabin together. The old man, Mr. Sato, has no family, and has to sleep in the men’s bunkhouse. At least the driver took us to the mess hall, so we didn’t have to carry our bags.

  The mess is in an old hockey arena that’s being used to serve meals now. One end is the men’s bunkhouse. The women’s is a separate building nearby. It was too late for a proper supper but someone gave us each a ham sandwich and a cup of tea. We ate quickly, then moved our bags to the bunkhouse and went to bed.

  After breakfast today, we went exploring. Kay wore sturdier shoes this time! The main street has a few shops, a drugstore and a bank. There are some houses, a couple of churches, a post office and just one gas station. Bob’s Ice Cream Parlour was closed — maybe it was too early for ice cream. But we didn’t see a single bus, streetcar or even a traffic light. The roads here aren’t even paved!

  Emma wanted to ask about Papa and Mama and Harry, so we went back to the Commission offices. No one could tell us anything, so we left. We walked past an old-fashioned hotel and a rundown concert hall, and didn’t see a soul anywhere. I see why New Denver is a ghost town!

  Then we continued a mile south
and crossed a small wooden bridge. Underneath is a noisy river, strangely called Carpenter Creek, rushing over thousands of small rocks. It isn’t grand like the Lions Gate or Burrard Bridge back home, but I like being close to the water and hearing its sound. We’ve been told not to drink any because mining activities upstream make it unsafe.

  We heard hammering as soon as we were over the bridge. I was astounded when we reached where the Japanese families are living. It’s called “The Orchard,” because there once was one here, and I spotted a few scruffy apple trees. But what a difference from the village! Here we saw rows and rows of little wooden cabins, some newly built and some still under construction. This must be like Lemon Creek where Sachi is. There are even a few sorry looking tents where people are still living — how awful. I’m very glad the Yamasakis got a cabin and I really hope the Yamadas have one by now. We could smell wood burning everywhere and see smoke rising from pipes on the cabin roofs. It reminds me a little of Guide Camp, except people at the mess said that no one here calls this place a camp because it’s a reminder that we all were forced to come here.

  At least this part of New Denver feels alive! People of all ages were coming and going, making me think of our visits to Powell Street or the crowd at an Asahi game. I didn’t recognize anyone, but everyone smiled and said either hello or ohayō.

  When we returned to the mess, Kay spotted a bulletin board outside. High-school students and graduates are needed to teach school here. Kay and Emma are going to apply because they don’t think they could find other work. Maybe I’ll be going to school after all!

  Must stop now. It’s cold, my hand is stiff and I’m really sleepy. I’m not looking forward to that cold bed one bit.

  Saturday, October 24

  Woke up feeling terribly homesick. I wish I was back at Oxford Street! But if I can’t be there, I want Mama and Papa to be here, and Harry and Mike and Tad too. I said the Guide pledge in my head and told myself to be brave. I felt a bit better when Emma said it was time to get up.

  Hope we won’t have to stay here long — it’s freezing cold, dark and there’s no running water. We have to bathe using water from the sinks in a small washroom at the mess. The cook said after all the cabins are built in The Orchard, the next priority is a communal ofurō. Mama and Aunt Eiko used one in Japan and had described it to us. I don’t really want to take off all my clothes and be naked in front of a lot of strangers. Kay says the very idea is mortifying!

  Sunday, October 25

  Mike’s here in New Denver!! I’m SO HAPPY to see him again. But I really should start from the beginning.

  My sisters and I went to early mass this morning at St. Anthony’s in the village, and ran into the Yamasakis there. The church is quite small and the pews were almost full, but the few hakujin sat well away from us. The priest is from Quebec and very welcoming — Mama would like him, I’m sure. I hope she and Harry get here soon! After mass, Father Clement greeted families outside and we introduced ourselves. None of the hakujin stayed. Then we walked back towards The Orchard with the Yamasakis. They invited us to their cabin for tea on Tuesday afternoon!

  It was too early for lunch so Kay and Emma suggested we go see the “San.” That’s short for the sanitorium, the new hospital for tuberculosis patients being built south of The Orchard. We walked that way, heading for a pretty little cove with a wide, pebbly beach. Loud hammering was coming from a long, wooden building even though it was Sunday. Several men were hard at work. Suddenly one of them whistled and ran towards us. It was Mike!

  He reached me first, picked me up and spun me around. I was so overjoyed to see him, I burst into tears! He hugged us all and wanted to know what we were doing here. We asked the same of him, since his last letter said he was someplace called Sandon!

  He laughed and said that Sandon is another ghost town near here. He was there several months, getting the old buildings ready for evacuees. Afterwards, he and the other workers came here to complete the San before really bad weather sets in.

  Mike didn’t know we’d turn up here. Emma’s last letter didn’t reach him. We said we’d just arrived late Thursday night. He asked right away where Mama and Papa and Harry are. He knew Tad was in Ontario because he did get one of Emma’s earlier letters, as well as the one with the bad news about Geechan. We told Mike that Harry was in St. Paul’s Hospital when we left Vancouver and Mama was with him. When Kay said that Papa had been detained by the RCMP two weeks ago and that we hadn’t heard from him since, Mike muttered, “Damn it!” I’ve never heard him swear before!

  Emma explained that she’d been trying to find out where Papa is and when we might see him. She’s trying to reach Aunt Eiko to see if she can help. When Mike learned Aunt Eiko is in Kaslo and working for the Commission, he looked surprised, but said it can only help to know somebody in the Commission office. He laughed again when we told him where we’re staying. He’s sleeping at the men’s bunkhouse right next door. We’re going to meet for supper tonight at the mess hall!

  Monday, October 26

  At the mess hall

  It’s better writing here than in the bunkhouse with a flashlight! Supper with Mike last night was wonderful. Having him here helps me worry a bit less about Papa, Mama and Harry. Mike said he had to work really hard at the road camp. He was terribly homesick those first weeks and not just for Mama’s cooking. That’s exactly how I’m feeling now! The other workers were mostly older men who didn’t speak or write much English. When he wasn’t at work clearing bush, Mike would write letters to the Commission for the men because they desperately wanted to rejoin their families.

  In May, Mike was sent to Kaslo to fix up old buildings there for the evacuees. Being in Kaslo was better than road camp because more men Mike’s age were working there. He even knew a few from the lumberyard. After that, Mike and his friends were sent to Sandon, set in a narrow valley between here and Kaslo. The main street is a wooden boardwalk built right over Carpenter Creek, the same river that ends up here in New Denver. Mike told us the town had five thousand people in its boom years but when he and the others arrived, only a few dozen remained. Nearly a thousand Japanese Canadians live there now.

  In one of the old hotel dining rooms, Mike saw plates of untouched food still on the tables, as if people left in the middle of eating and were coming back any moment. A Sandon old-timer later told him that when residents found out the Japanese were coming there to live, most packed their bags and took the first bus out of town!

  We left the mess hall late, but at least there’s no curfew here! We said goodnight and headed off to our separate bunkhouses. It feels so good to be together, even if it’s just the four of us. If only we were all together — Tad and Papa, and Mama and Harry too.

  Tuesday, October 27

  Kay and Emma went to a meeting about the teaching jobs after breakfast, so I was on my own. I took a long walk along the main road until there were no more houses. The only traffic was a big truck loaded with logs. I noticed a sign to Rosebery, another internment camp north of here, and another sign pointing east to Sandon and Kaslo. I kept going as far as the railway tracks and nearly jumped out of my skin when a boy my age suddenly appeared and asked if I was lost!

  I told him I wasn’t. Then he asked me whether I was from Rosebery or The Orchard, because if I was from Rosebery, it was faster following the tracks than using the main road. I thanked him and said I was from The Orchard, even though that’s not entirely true! He smiled and said he might see me there. His father is one of the Doukhobor farmers in the area who sell vegetables to the Japanese. They’re usually at The Orchard on Thursdays.

  The boy’s name is Alex Davidoff. He likes walking the tracks because he often sees birds and deer. We headed back to the road together just as a bearded man in a horse-drawn wagon pulled up. Alex said it was his father and went to meet him. But before he did, he tipped his cap and wished me good day! I waved as the wagon went by and Alex waved back. It’s strange he wasn’t in school.

&nbs
p; After lunch, my sisters and I went to visit the Yamasakis. I was stunned when we went inside but tried not to show it. It’s tiny, yet Mrs. Yamasaki said it’s really a two-family cabin. There’s no electricity and no running water here either. The wooden kitchen sink has a hole that drains straight outside!

  Mrs. Yamasaki sent her daughters to fetch water for tea so I went along to help. It’s quite a distance to the village. The full buckets were very heavy but Mrs. Yamasaki gave the youngest girl a metal teapot to carry instead. Now I understand why Sachi wrote that this was such hard work.

  The girls are so polite, not yancha like Harry. Dori is nine, Joy is seven and Bonnie is five. The older lady, Mrs. Imai, is Mrs. Yamasaki’s mother and the girls’ baachan. Mr. Yamasaki owned a Vancouver dry cleaning shop, but like Mas, he was sent to Angler for protesting back in May. His family hasn’t had a letter from him since September.

  The cabin has two wood stoves, one for heating and one for cooking. My sisters helped Mrs. Yamasaki start the fire in the cooking stove because she was so used to her electric stove in Vancouver. The ocha was good and Mrs. Imai brought out a tin of senbei to munch on. Mrs. Yamasaki apologized for not having any nice teacups but, like everyone else, the family left their good dishes behind at home. We had a nice visit all the same and made some new friends. And I think I may have made friends with a Doukhobor today too!

  Wednesday, October 28

  It snowed last night! It’s pretty but harder to get around. Once Mama gets here, which I hope is soon, Kay said we’ll order boots from Eaton’s catalogue. We’re going to need long johns too!